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It may never match Gremlins or The Goonies in terms of 1980s pop-cultural cachet, but Barry Levinson’s Young Sherlock Holmes made a lasting impact on many young cinema-goers three decades ago for one simple reason: it was intensely scary but in an entirely child-friendly way, from its possessed patisserie to its ethereal, sword-swinging stained-glass knight.

Getting that balance right is a tonal high-wire act of Niagara-spanning magnitude, which The House with a Clock in Its Walls unwisely attempts to replicate.

Adapted from a 1973 book by John Bellairs, and wielding...

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